Upton4785

It's a good thing the driver didn't get flustered and slammed on the gas.

I have a Garmin that I use in my POV for everyday stuff, like when my buddies move to a new apartment and I can't understand their directions, going to job interviews, or when I get tickets to go see Blue Man Group in Boston and me being as directionally challenged as I am, can't find my way around. I love the thing. It's great. Sometimes, yes, it will take me either the wrong or long route, or very rarely, it'll tell me to take a road that doesn't exist - and never has. Minor things though, because the only time I've found it to err was when I was comparing it's knowlege of my hometown to my own. Obviously I know all the shortcuts that it may not think of. But during long trips, the thing is spot on. I've been told that if you're going to get a GPS, Garmin or Magellen are your best bets. Mine does have the feature that pronounces street names, which comes in handy so you don't have to take your eyes off the road.

Now that I think of it, there's one that's been tossed around for a while that's just so stupid it's hilarious. Two muffins were in the oven baking. One muffin turns to the other and says, "Boy it's hot in here, huh?", the other muffin looks at the first with a horrified expression and shouts, "Holy sh*t! A talking muffin!"

Three guys sit down in a bar to enjoy a drink. One of them is a Frenchman, one an American, and the last is an Irishman. All three men ask the barkeep for a beer. The three men get their beer, and odd as it may seem, three flies that were buzzing overhead died in mid-air and landed in each of the men's beers. The Frenchman is horribly disgusted by this and dumps the entire beer out. The American takes a spoon and lifts the fly and some beer out of the glass, then drinks his beer. The two men look to the Irishmen as he carefully grabs the fly by both wings, looks it straight in the eyes and yells, "Spit it out, you bastard!" I have always loved this joke.

Here's a few good ones: From "Shaun of the Dead" Ed: "Can I get any of you c*nts a drink?" Ed: "Alright, what do we do now?" Shaun: "Uh... have a sit down?" And the best from that movie: Shaun: "Ahhh! He's got an arm off!" From "Boondock Saints" Bartender (can't remember his name): "You know what they say, 'People in glass houses... s-s-sink ships'" Rocco: "We gotta get you like a book of proverbs, 'cause this mixin' and matchin' shit ain't workin" "Rocco, you look like mushmouth" "Hey Rocco.... are you obekaybee? hehehe" And from every Arnold Schwartzenegger (sp?) movie ever made: "Get down!"

In what may prove to be a futile attempt to steer the conversation back to the original topic while relating it to the recent literary scuffle between Dust and Medic2005, I personally feel there are several issues holding USA EMS back, but the one I will further discuss is one that I could easily just point to Medic2005 and say, "Pretty much that". Instead, I'll sum it up as a lack of motivation to advance oneself in this career and the insecure, self-righteous ramblings often associated with it. After reading Medic2005's posts in this topic, I'd say it's fairly safe to assume he is not a Paramedic and perhaps not an Intermediate. Suffice to say, it looks as if Medic is completely content in remaining in a BLS unit for the rest of his career. His regression to the childish "ALS = Always Losing Seconds, BLS = Better Life Savers" bit is a perfect example of this, but seeing the number of other people who also made this observation, I'll get off it before I get accused of beating a dead horse. But therein lies my point and it's a major pet peeve of mine. If we were to look at a bar chart comparing the number of Basics to Intermediates and Paramedics, the bar for Basics would dwarf the other two, even if one stood on the other's shoulders and tried to extend it's arms out. The Basic bar would still stand there so proud of itself and spouting off lines like, "Paramedics save lives, EMT's save Paramedics" while the other two bars sit off to the side reading their books and studying new protocols like a square. It's when I hear this glorification of mediocrity that my blood starts to boil. Yes, I'm proud of being a Basic, but I in no way consider myself better than any Paramedic, Intermediate, or even other Basics. I only lose respect for them if they prove to me that they have no intention of progressing. For all the guys at my work, they got their Basics for the yearly bonus. They'll never advance, just stay at the bottom of the barrel. I only intend to be a Basic for as long as I need to before I get my Intermediate (this winter), and then I'll only be an Intermediate for as long as I need to before I know I'll make a competant and informed Paramedic. Even then, the education never stops, or at least I don't believe it should. But unfortunately, for every one person that thinks like me, there's ten thousand that don't. In conclusion, what I feel will greatly aid EMS in the US is if more people who took the course to be a Basic, took it with the right intentions, that being to advance all the way to the top and strive to be the best of the best. As has been said many many times on this site, "Go big or go home". If you're not in it to win it, just shut your mouth. By the way, I'm pretty sure I'm not being entirely clear with my point, but I'm exhausted as I'm typing this, so feel free to question it or ask for clarification. Even feel free to debate it. I'll check back in the morning. Be safe out there.

When I worked for CarePlus, we wore a white "oxford" style shirt (i guess that is similar to class A's, but people tend to have differing opinions on that), with our certification patch and the company patch on the arms. We also had the collar brass, which I didn't mind, and a nameplate. We had a choice in pants, and was dependant on what your primary role was. If you were an EMT on the ambulance, you could wear the pants similar to what Dust put up on the front page. If you were on the wheelchair van, you could wear just the straight leg, dark blue dickies. I opted for the ones with the instrument pockets. Then when I went to CLP, we wore a dark blue polo shirt with the company name on them and "EMS" written on the collar in the back, and I wore the same pants. I completely agree with what Dust said about white shirts. I used to hate coming home from the end of a shift at CLP and seeing my shirt in a different light and realizing there were stains of blood all over the thing. Not to mention it was the only shirt they gave me, so I didn't exactly have a choice when someone bled or puked on it other than to try to wipe myself off and go back for more.

Some of those, you really feel bad for. As much as I hate the news, sometimes I just feel bad for them and some of the crap they have to put up with from a group of people more ignorant than the news: the general public. And apparently 1 dog. Which I laughed my ass of at.

I've only been an EMT for a little while now, and I'm working on setting up a bag to keep with me while off duty. Are there any regulations or restrictions on carrying a small O2 tank if it's not going to be used on a service? To rephrase, can just about anyone get oxygen? I know that I definitely wouldn't leave it in my car during the hot summer months and the freezing winter months. Also, I live in NH so if there's any special state restrictions, that'd be nice to know too.